In an apparent attempt to bring all the non-BJP political parties under one umbrella to take on the ruling party at the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and winning the power, the Telugu Desam Party Chief and the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, N Chandrababu Naidu has urged all the opposition parties for a meeting on November 22 at Andhra Pradesh Bhavan in New Delhi. Naidu said that the meeting is tentatively suggested on November 22 and it should happen, subject to the availability of various leaders.

Preceding this announcement, Naidu had a series of meeting with various political heads right from Delhi to Chennai in the past few weeks. In this connection, the TDP leader had met the General Secretary of the Congress Party, and former Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Ashok Gehlot in AP capital of Amaravati yesterday. The day before, Naidu had also met the DMK President, MK Stalin in Chennai.

Stating that meeting was fruitful with Stalin, Naidu had said that all the non-BJP political parties are joining hands to bring them on a single platform. Few political parties might have reservation about some issues, he added, “TDP had difference of opinion with the Congress for four decades. Nevertheless, we are trying to bring all political parties except BJP on a single platform. Democracy is paramount. Therefore, it is for the people to sink their differences. The citizens are ready for it now as is evident.”

Naidu briefed the media in Chennai after an hour long meeting he had with Stalin at his residence. Before that, Naidu had also met the Janata Dal Secular Chief and former Prime Minister, HD Deve Gowda and his son and the current Chief Minister of Karnataka, HD Kumaraswamy in Bangalore on Thursday. So, Naidu, who is not nursing the ambition of becoming the Prime Minister, is on a back to back meeting with major political parties other than BJP. At the Bangalore meeting, the three leaders were on the same page on the need to unite the Opposition and save India’s institutions from the BJP. After the meeting, Kumaraswamy had even stated that the next year’s hustings will be a repeat of 1996, referring the the United Front Government backed by Congress from the outside, in which his father Deve Gowda became the PM, followed by the late Inder Kumar Gujral. Naidu, as a convener of the United Front had played a crucial role, which he is trying to do it even at this juncture. The seasoned politician, who visited New Delhi last week had a series of meeting with various political party leaders including Congress party chief, Rahul Gandhi (TDP and Congress has forged alliance to contest the forthcoming elections in Telangana), Farooq Abdullah of National Conference and Sharad Pawar of NCP. Earlier, Naidu had also met leaders like Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati, Samajwajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav, West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee and Aam Aadmi Party leader and Delhi Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal.

Apparently, Naidu’s efforts are bearing fruit and he is getting encomiums from various quarters, especially from the Congress party. Puducherry (Pondycherry) Chief Minister, V Narayanasamy was of the opinion that Naidu had set out a journey to united the opposition parties with an intention of forming a secular front government, ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha polls. As Naidu has assured the other leaders of various political parties that he had opted himself out of the PM race, the apparent goal is to stitch an alliance with a common minimum programme and fight the Lok Sabha hustings with their regional influences and once they emerge as winners, then they would sit and decide who should become the Prime Minister depending on the number of Lok Sabha seat each political party had won.

As three crucial states in the Hindi heartland could decide the fate of the BJP, where factors such as anti-incumbency factor, in addition to failure of election promises of the BJP ruled states and corruption could pose negative factor. As the Lok Sabha polls are only months away, if Naidu and other leaders can form an alliance with a common minimum programme, they might succeed in unseating BJP and forming a new Government with development as a single agenda. At this juncture, the speech, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal made during the inauguration of Signature Bridge, where he praises Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister for his vision to lay emphasis on science and technology and good governance. Rather than polarising the country in the name of religion and temple issues, India should march ahead with developmental agenda.

After having a meeting in Bangalore with the Janata Dal (Secular) President and former Prime Minister of India, Deva Gowda and his son, the Chief Minister of Karnataka, HD Kumaraswamy, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief, Nara Chandrababu Naidu laid emphasis on the need for the opposition parties to come on a same platform to fight the next year’s Lok Sabha Elections, to save India’s Constitution and democratic institutions from the BJP.

After the meeting got over, the three leaders were on the same page and told in unison about the urgent need to put up a united opposition against the BJP in 2019 General Elections.

The decision as to who will become the Prime Ministerial candidate will be taken at a later stage, the leaders told the media in Bangalore this evening. The three politicians met at 4.00 PM. When Naidu arrived at Deva Gowda’s residence at Padmanabha Nagar in South Bangalore, the former received warm welcome from both father and son. When the meeting got over, the senior politicians spoke to the media in length about the future course of action.

“It is of paramount importance that the opposition parties emerged on a same platform in order to save democracy at a time when national institutions like the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) were compromised. The CBI, in actuality, should be autonomous. But, the investigating agency has been used t keep the opposition under control”, Naidu accused the BJP Government.

Demonitisation Dig

Taking a jibe at the Union Government’s demonitisation drive on its second anniversary, Naidu claimed that the “ill-advised” move had in fact, slowed down India’s economy. While expressing his confidence in the victory in the Lok Sabha hustings, Kumaraswamy said, “The history of 1996 verdict will repeat in 2019 elections as well”, apparently, the Chief Minister was referring to the time when several regional political parties managed to form a coalition in the form of United Front with Congress support and his father, Deva Gowda as Prime Minister. This confidence stems from the recent success of the Congress-JDS combine in the by-polls, which has come as a booster shot for plans to present a united front against the BJP in the Parliamentary elections. After the by-poll victory, the Chief Minister broadly hinted that the Congress President, Rahul Gandhi should lead the opposition charge in 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

To a specific query on Rahul’s likely candidature for the Prime Ministership, Naidu dodged it and said, “You are interested in the PM candidate and politics while I am interested in saving democracy. Obviously, there is a conflict of interest here. What is more, selecting a Prime Ministerial candidate is a decision for a later day.”

Endorsing Naidu’s view on the matter, Kumaraswamy said that the PM candidature cannot be taken in haste as there are several leaders in various opposition parties who are capable of governing the country in an organised manner. So, the question of deciding on PM post can be discussed later. The need of the hour is to unite the opposition and save democracy, the Karnataka CM said.

Kumaraswamy also hinted about a mega-meeting of opposition leaders, akin to the one seen during his swearing in event as the Chief Minister. “I am contemplating on organising an event by December end or early January next year. All the regional leaders sans BJP members will be invited for the meeting”, he said.

Sheet Anchor Role

Naidu is playing a sheet anchor role now. He is negotiating with various political parties to form an alliance, taking up a role that has been handled earlier by Janata Dal (United) Chief, Nitish Kumar reconsidering his decision to go back to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in 2017.

It may be recalled that Naidu had formally joined hands with Congress President, Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi at the start of the month with the main aim of defeating the BJP. The Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister also had meeting with Nationalist Congress Party Chief, Sharad Pawar and National Conference President, Farooq Abdullah and few other political party heads with the intention of forming an alliance. Although, the BJP had dismissed Naidu’s endeavours as political tourism, post Karnataka by-poll results, the ruling dispensation will be a little worried about the prospects of the united opposition upsetting its electoral ambition of governing the nation for another term.

Diwali Bonus for HD Kumaraswamy and Siddaramaiah, as the Congress-JDS combine sweeps the Karnataka By-Polls 2018.

In Karnataka, the ruling Congress-Jantata Dal Secular alliance has won four seats out of the five, where by-poll 2018 was held. The Ballari and Mandya Parliamentary seats in addition to Jamkhandi and Ramanagara Assembly seats the Congress-JDS combine won. The BJP candidate won Shivamogga Lok Sabha constituency.

Expressing his happiness about the poll outcome, Congress leader P Chidambaram said that the coalition has delivered. Out of the three Parliamentary constituencies, the BJP held two and JDS one and it also holds the prestigious Shivamogga, the stronghold of its State Chief, BS Yeddyurappa.

Loss of Face for BJP

This by-election is all the more important both for the ruling dispensation of Karnataka as well as the BJP after the Assembly polls, said the NDTV report and added that it was a loss of face for the BJP as the Congress-JDS entered into a late coalition to deprive the BJP from forming the Government despite being the single largest party, noted the report. The positive outcome in the by-elections is a shot-in-the-arm for the ruling Congress-JDS alliance in Karnataka, when its longevity was seen with scepticism.

It may be recalled that in 2014, the BJP had won 17 of the 20 Parliamentary seats in the south Indian state of Karnataka, while the Congress won nine and HD Kumaraswamy’s JDS two seats. What is more, the BJP won 104 of the 224 Assembly seats in the election held in May this year.

Yaddyurappa said, “We will introspect the results of Ballari and move ahead. Nevertheless, we are confident that the 2019 Lok Sabha elections will be completely ours.” Earlier, he also accused the Congress-JDS alliance of indulging in rampant misuse of official machinery, while liquor and money was also distributed. At the same time, Yeddyurappa accepted the verdict of the people in this by-election with all humility. Reacting to the poll outcome, Kumaraswamy complimented Congress and added that the former had supported him and so in his personal capacity, it was his duty to support the Congress as well. Terming Rahul Gandhi as innocent politician, he said, “In my interactions with him in the last few months, Rahul came across as very innocent. He has been truthful and honest with me.”

Karnataka By-Poll 2018 Results, Pie-Chart by NDTV on Twitter.

Kumaraswamy also said that the people across India are blessing their alliances. “If you see by-polls across the country, wherever there is a BJP versus alliance battle, the BJP has lost. With our unity and the blessings of the people, we are destined to win”, he said and added that when it came to money power, no other political party could compete with the BJP. “They havve much more money than any other party”, he added.

Modi Wave will not hold water anymore

Stating that the Modi wave do not hold water anymore, Kumaraswamy pointed out, “In 2014, the scenario was different. The country was new to Modi. The people thought that Modi would change the whole country and the whole system. Nevertheless, Modi also made several promises, but after 4.5 years, people have seen what he is capable of. They now know that they are voting for. So the Modi wave factor has completely changed. Modi will not survive 2019.” While concluding, Kumaraswamy hailed the verdict as a ‘Moral Victory” for the Congress-JDS alliance.

The Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party Chief today had a meeting with Congress President Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi today, a meeting, which the former termed it as a “Democratic Compulsion.” Apparently, Naidu had visited Gandhi at the latter’s residence in an attempt to garner opposition unity to take on the ruling BJP at the next year’s Lok Sabha polls, IE reported.

“We have to save the nation and defend democracy. It is a democratic compulsion and we have joined together to protect our country,” Naidu said while addressing the media. This was the TDP chief’s first meeting with Rahul Gandhi after getting out of the alliance with the NDA. The two had shared the dais at the swearing-in ceremony of Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy in May.

Emphasising the need for opposition parties to unite against the saffron party, Gandhi said, “We had a very good meeting. The gist was that we have to defend the democracy and future of the country. So, we are coming together to work together; all opposition forces must unite. We are not going to get into the past. We are going to talk about the present and the future. Opposition forces need to come together to provide a vision to the country because of the current situation.”

Talking about unemployment and alleged corruption in the Rafale fighter jet deal, Gandhi said, “It is very clear that corruption is taking place. Institutions that can investigate are being attacked. A proper inquiry on what all happened, where the money went and who did corruption, that is what I am pushing very aggressively. The nation wants to know this.”

Slew of meetings

Earlier in the day, Naidu had met NCP chief Sharad Pawar and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah and held talks of building a nationwide alliance against the saffron party. After meeting Pawar and Abdullah in the afternoon, Naidu had told reporters, “We must protect the future generations. There is a need to chalk out a programme for the future. We must act in the interest of the nation.” Abdullah, on the other hand, said the country was going through “difficult times” and emphasised on the need to “save democracy”.

Expressing concern over “assault” on institutions like the CBI and the RBI, Pawar said the non-BJP parties will come out with a common minimum programme to take on the government. “If we collectively work to save democracy, we can definitely save the institutions. Chandrababu (Naidu) will talk to other state political leaders in this regard,” the NCP chief said. Naidu also met Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad. However, TDP sources claimed that the duo met “coincidentally” at the airport.

Watershed

The meeting between Naidu and Gandhi could be a watershed in the history of TDP, established by Naidu’s father-in-law, late NT Rama Tao in the early 1980s with the sole purpose of defeating the Congress in undivided Andhra. He was successful within a year and became the first non-Congress CM of AP in 1983. Now the TDP, under Naidu, is already in talks with the Congress for an alliance in Telangana.

Naidu, who walked out of the NDA alliance this year over demand for special status for Andhra Pradesh, is now trying to bring all like-minded opposition parties together to form an alliance as an alternative to BJP. “I have taken the responsibility to save the country from this threat. It is the duty of all to save the country,” he said.

On his previous visit to the national capital, Naidu had met a cross-section of non-Congress and non-BJP leaders in an effort to bring them together against the NDA. During his visit, he met the likes of BSP chief Mayawati, AAP leader and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah, former BJP leader and government critique Yashwant Sinha, and Loktantrik Janata Dal leader Sharad Yadav.

Credible Alternative

Naidu, who was the convenor of the United Front coalition, pointed out that the TDP and he himself had played a role in the formation of the coalition governments in 1989 and later in 1996. He said coalition and minority governments have “done well” to implement “clear policies”, and argued that political compulsions have always brought parties together. He said he will play the role of a “facilitator” in helping evolve a credible alternative and said that he is not interested in becoming the Prime Minister, added the report.